When time is precious but you’re wanting maximum taste, this quick and easy Vegan Pesto Pasta is a must make. What’s great about this vegan recipe is that it’s nut and grain free! My Vegan Pesto Pasta uses lentil pasta instead of grainbased like wheat, rice, spelt, quinoa, amarnath or buckwheat.
If you’re following a low-carb diet, this Vegan Pesto Pasta can also be made using zucchini noodles, kelp or konjac noodles.
Which lentil pastas are best to use for this Vegan Pesto Pasta?
There are such a great range of 100% lentil pastas available now in supermarkets, health food stores and online. My favourites are green pea, red lentil, mung bean and chickpea (used here). I like Napolina because they’re just pure lentils, making them both grain and gluten free.
But this Vegan Pesto Pasta uses pine nuts, how does that make it nut free?
Although pine nuts are thought of as a ‘nut’ in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense they are actually a seed. If you prefer though you can substitute pine nuts for sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds, or an equal mix of both.
How is this pesto pasta made cheesy?
I used my favourite nutritional yeast to give this Vegan Pesto Pasta a great cheesy taste and also a healthy boost of B12, a vitamin a lot of vegans can be lacking in. Feel free to top with some grated vegan cheese too if you’re ok with nuts. Most are cashew or almond based.
This nut free vegan pesto is so versatile it can also be tossed through salads, rices, cauliflower rice, or on sweet potato fries. It’s a stable I hope you’ll fall back on time and time again.
Nut Free Vegan Pesto Pasta
INGREDIENTS
- 25 g fresh basil
- 2 tbsp pine nuts (or pumpkin or sunflower seeds if you prefer)
- 1 small garlic clove
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp flaked sea salt
- 3/4 tbsp lemon juice
- 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 150 g lentil pasta (chickpea, pea or red lentil) (option to use a grain pasta if you're not grain free or zucchini or kelp noodles for low-carb)
Topping
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Fresh basil leaves, torn
- Cracked black pepper, to taste
Method
- Place all the pesto ingredients in a small blender and blitz until smooth. For extra deliciousness, you can roast the pine nuts or pumpkin / sunflower seeds first (180C / 160 fan for about 5 - 10 minutes until golden) in the oven or dry fry in a frying pan.) Allow to fully cool before blending.
- Cook the lentil pasta as per the directions on the packet. Rinse and drain.
- Toss the pasta with the Nut Free Vegan Pesto Pasta and top with nutritional yeast, fresh basil leaves and cracked black pepper.
- Note: If using zucchini noodles simply mix together in a pan and saute for 1 - 3 minutes until slightly softened but still el dente or to your liking.
